I Don't Know Where Is My Rubber

The end of last week was pretty easy at the American school. We went to see two theatrical productions on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Wednesday was a musical / skit in Valenciano and Thursday was another musical performance except it was in Spanish. Neither one was anything to rave about, but it was fun to get out of the classroom... for the kids and for me. I understood maybe 2 words in the Valenciano show and the majority of the Spanish show. One fun thing about Valenciano is this character right here: Ç ç

It's a "c" with a little tail. I know nothing else about it. Big one: Ç little one: ç

The computers at school have it on their keyboards. As well as the ñ, which is right next to the L key. They also have the euro sign € on the letter E. Typing is just a little different on these keyboards but not much. For example, the question mark is way up by the 0 (zero) key.


Valenciano show...don't ask me what it was about or what the girl in the tutu is wearing.


Francisco (one of my students) and Massimo (my teacher's son)



Fun little song they played

I have been taking note of cultural differences I've observed thus far and want to write them down so I remember. I really love my teacher (Mrs. Julie) because A) she's great and B) she's from New York but has lived in Valencia for eleven years. So she is an excellent person for me to talk to about the cultural differences between Americans and Spaniards. While I do maintain that these are DIFFERENCES and nothing is better or worse... there are still some things that suit me better in America and some things I'm liking better here.

Vocabulary

Rubber
This is what my kids call their eraser sometimes...many times. Luckily, I had already discovered that they use this name before one little girl approached me the other and said, "Miss Emily, I don't know where is my rubber."
Also, kids at this school use pencils without erasers. Why? I don't know. The pencil/eraser combination was an ingenious invention that I'm sure teachers everywhere praised...because now my students have TWO things to keep up with. Imagine how well that goes. There are lost rubbers almost every day. Not to mention lost pencils.


Peanut Butter
Another day in school, students were asked to write a sentence about peanut butter. But peanut butter is not a big food here... a.k.a half the class didn't even know what it was. No problem. We improvise and those students just write a sentence about ice cream. I figured they wouldn't know what it was since I'd already discovered the small and expensive amount of peanut butter in the
stores. But find me a kid that doesn't know what peanut butter is in the states. You wouldn't think twice about asking them to write a sentence about peanut butter.

Manners

In Spain, it is not necessary to be polite...or what we would consider polite. And some of the things they say would be rude if we were to use them in English. For example, when you walk into a store... A) the worker may not even look up to ask if you need help. A few times the person has just continued talking on their cell phone and not even looked up at me. And B) when you approach them to ask for something instead of saying "Cómo puedo ayudarte" (How can I help you) they say, "Dime" (pronounced dee-may...which literally translates to "tell me").

It works in the opposite direction too. As a customer, instead of saying "Puedo tener un cerveza por favor" (May I have a beer please) you just say "Una cerveza" and you can add the "por favor" if you want, but it's really not necessary. No one's gonna spit in your food if you don't say please.

When I was talking to Vicente (my bus driver) about all this, he agreed that "por favor" is not used as much as we use it. It's not like you NEVER use or hear it. But as far as drilling please and thank you manners into the children, Vicente said that does not really happen. He did say that when students don't say "good afternoon" to him or the bus monitor, he will stop them and tell them to say it. He said that not greeting people in Spain is considered "maleducado" or impolite. There's also not a "Yes sir/ma'am, No sir/ma'am" equivalent in Spanish. I mean, yes, you can say "Sí señor/señora," but that would be used in a more formal, adult situation. Like the hotel clerk may say it to you. Not for kids to say to every adult that asks them a question.

I was also talking to Julie, my teacher, about this one day. And she said one time she kept thanking this lady for dinner and she felt that the lady was annoyed with how many times she said thank you. It's like, "Stop thanking me. I do this because I want to."

The whole "dime" and "una cerveza" thing is nice. At first, to us, it feels short and a little less friendly...but really it's not...or it doesn't feel that way now that I'm used to it. It's kinda nice to cut out all the extra polite-ness and just get to the point.

Food
Hamburgers here (so far...the few restaurants that have had them) are just not the same. I long for a big, fat, juicy American hamburger. I'll keep looking before I completely deem Spanish burgers as garbage.
However, I have decided that pizza in Spain is gross. I mean, I've found some that I will eat. And it's ok at best. But, as a person who LOVES pizza, it's not cutting it. They do have Dominos here soooo ...it may come to that.
I also miss free water in restaurants and free refills.

Dining
I think I mentioned in one of my first posts how the dining experience is different. But now that I've been living it, I have weighed the negative and positive aspects. In Spain, you eat later and longer. 2 hours is not a ridiculous amount of time for a meal to take. The waiter will bring you the bill when you ask for it. The nice thing about this is you can sit and relax as long as you want and enjoy your friends' company. You don't have the feeling of being rushed out like you do in the states when the waiter brings you the check before you've even finished your meal.

On the down side, if you don't get to a restaurant early enough and it's already full...you may not ever get a table. One night we went out, went to a restaurant, gave them our name, and sat down to have a drink while we waited. One drink later, we asked a worker how much longer. He said, "I don't know. No one has asked for the bill yet. Maybe an hour." So it's just kinda like...whatever. A restaurant MIGHT have a table turnover once...but it's possible for there to be one group of people at a table the whole night.


Cars
Small small and smaller. Haven't seen a Suburban or Tahoe-size vehicle since I left the states. The biggest "SUV" I've seen is a probably mini-van.
One difference I could get used to is not driving. I've never lived in a city with public transportation before. I am loving not having a car. I don't miss driving and I really don't miss car maintenance. Even though I'm prone to motion sickness, it hasn't been that bad here. The buses are mainly windows all the way around.

And now, with the Spanish culture just barely under my belt... it's time for a weekend in Rome.
Arrivederci!